Circumstances of Lorain deaths investigated

LORAIN — His family called William Taylor Jr. a family man, a good friend and even a poet.

“His writing touched a lot of people,” said a family member of Taylor’s who described the late 32-year-old as a creative person. “He wrote a lot.”

Taylor died Sunday following a shooting at a house on the 1600 block of Washington Street in Lorain that left 21-year-old Catalina Ortiz dead in the house.

Not long after police found Ortiz, they received a 911 call from Taylor that sent them 1018 W. 17th St. where the residents said Taylor had crashed through a window around 5:45 a.m. and landed on top of one of the residents.

While inside the home, Taylor grabbed a 10-year-old girl and later was held down by another resident until police arrived. Police used a Taser on him before he was handcuffed, and he appeared to be unconscious when he was taken out of the home, the residents told The Chronicle-Telegram.

Catalina Ortiz

Taylor was taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center, where he died shortly after the incident. The cause of his death is still unknown, and county Coroner Stephen Evans said he had no signs or trauma and he did not believe the Taser caused his death.

A close family member of Taylor’s, who would not provide his name, said he is choosing not to remember Taylor based on the final moments of his death, but instead on the basis that Taylor was a true friend throughout his life.

“To (Taylor), if you were a friend, you were family,” he said. “He would give you the shirt off of his back.”

The family member said that Taylor was a loving father to his 10-year-old daughter, who lives in another area.

The investigation into Sunday’s shooting and the deaths of both Ortiz and Taylor are still pending. Lorain police have said that the two knew each other, and police believe the incidents were connected, but they would not elaborate.